Body contradicts London mayor by saying existing capacity should be better used
The London Assembly has questioned mayor Boris Johnson鈥檚 drive for a hub airport East of London to be built, saying there was a huge amount of unused airport capacity in the capital.
A report from the Assembly鈥檚 Transport Committee called on Lord Davies鈥� Airport Commission, set up to decide whether to go ahead with construction of a new hub airport, needed to look hard at whether better use could be made of existing airport capacity.
It found that two smaller London airports, Stansted and Luton, had respectively 47% and 51% of runway slots available, and that even Heathrow, running at 99% runway capacity, could accommodate more passengers by switching to larger aircraft.
Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the London Assembly鈥檚 Transport Committee, said that using existing capacity in a smarter way 鈥渕ay be鈥� the most cost-effective solution in the short term. She said: 鈥淓vidence we received shows that the Airport Commission must examine whether better use of existing airport capacity could be an intelligent cost-effective alternative to building new airports or runways.
In addition the report said that the existing airports predominantly served local areas, raising further questions of whether a new airport in a different location was desirable. Pidgeon added: 鈥淭he need for additional hub capacity is also under debate, with strong data showing rather than runway capacity limiting airlines ability to fly to emerging markets, it could be low passenger demand from each airport鈥檚 geographical area.鈥�
The report said 127 million people used London airports in 2010, with two thirds of those coming from the London and the south east of England. Despite raising questions over the need for new hub airport capacity, Pidgeon backed the mayor鈥檚 stance on blocking further expansion of Heathrow. She said: 鈥淲e also hope that any plans to expand Heathrow can soon be laid to rest.
鈥淐urrently London sees 130 million passengers traveling through our airports each year. The challenge for the government and decision-makers is to find the best way to support the UK鈥檚 economy globally while ensuring Londoners are not adversely affected by worsening noise and air pollution from planes flying over the capital. In the short term.鈥�
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